The Niles North girls track team has opened a fresh season with a strong start after competing at their CSL indoor conference at Niles West on Thursday, March 15.
Niles North’s 4x800m relay (Clara Williamson, Clariza Kotsovos, Jessica Brand and Katherine Betz), 4×1 lap relay (Jada Kirksey, Whitney Jean, Lauren Yuen, and Kiana Foreman), and 4x400m relay (Williamson, Brand, Yuen, and Foreman) finished first while senior Yuen placed first in the 400, and senior Williamson placed first in the 800.
“The team also competed really well against GBN and in the Rockton meet; 4 by 8 and 4 by 4 relays were also really strong,” head coach Andrew Swedberg said. “[Senior] Annemarie Reid set the score record for pole vault at 10 feet.”
The team includes returning seniors Foreman, Reid, Yuen, Williamson, Diana Edmond, Sara Hermez, Iesha Alexander, Katherine Betz, Amanda Cortes, Jaimie John and junior Chinnell Williams.
The Vikings prepared for Thursday’s indoor conference by engaging in rigorous and vigorous workouts.
“A lot of our success and improvement go back to our coaches who create really good creative workouts for us, which lessens the chance of people getting injured,” sophomore Trinette Lopez said. “Our captains, Clara Williamson and Lauren Yuen, act like a role models to us; they are really good examples for the whole team; they always encourage us to do better and they practice really hard themselves.”
Head coach Swedberg is assisted by Jimmie Hawthorne, John Fitzpatrick, Matt Hunsucker, Tori Watson and Amy Zwikel.
The team’s main goals this year are to do well in indoor conference, win outdoor conference and send more relays and individuals to compete at State. They are already on their way.
